Tuesday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 1/15/2013

Florida business owners ponder health care law

As the Legislature decides whether Florida will implement certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, businesses of all sizes are also grappling with the impacts of the law. It doesn't help that the state has avoided making certain decisions, one business owner told a Senate panel on Monday. [Source: Times/Herald]

With the start of a New Year, now is an excellent time to set some financial goals for 2013. After all, it’s difficult to achieve a secure retirement, purchase a new home or save for a child’s education without taking steps to put your plan into action. To help get the year off to a positive start, here are 10 New Year’s resolutions that can improve your financial situation [Source: Miami Herald]

Scott and Legislature to examine school security

Lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott are looking at ways to improve security at Florida public schools following the tragic school shooting in Connecticut, but the scope and cost of those improvements remain unclear. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

The Apalachicola River is a source of water for the population in the growing Atlanta area - but also for marine life in Apalachicola Bay, which supplies 10% of the nation's oysters. Story here. [Photo: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT]

For decades, northwest Florida’s seafood industry has worried about falling water levels in the Apalachicola River, which originates in north Georgia and winds south into Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Channel widening, dams and increased development around Atlanta, for which the river is a major source of water, have all resulted in less flow down the channel. Full story...

Fixing a financial hangover

Now that crowds in Florida shopping malls have thinned following holiday buying sprees, lines are forming at the credit counseling agencies. With new credit card bills arriving in the mail at households already swamped with debt, many consumers are facing holiday hangovers. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

› Being a top growing Florida community brings challenges[Crestview Bulletin] An influx of neighbors arriving with military reassignments from North Carolina, Texas and Alaska has boosted the population of Crestview and propelled the city into the University of Florida’s top 100 growing cities in the state.

› Upscale golf clubs see renewed interest[Sarasota Herald-Tribune] At least two of Southwest Florida's luxury golf clubs that debuted during the housing boom have seen a sharp turnaround in new memberships in the past year — after a prolonged recession that kept sales in the bunker.